Alpha 2 released!

I guess when someone says “new content” for a city building game, first that comes into mind is new buildings and production chains. But instead of going the path of adding “more of the same”, I tried to fit as much as I can into existing buildings, improve what’s already there and fill in the missing parts.
I believe that attention to the detail is what sets Ostriv apart from other city-building games so I’m just refining its stronger points.
There’s a lot of interesting new stuff still on the road map, but I don’t want to add those before the game system is able to make them really meaningful.

Also this is the first update to feature some of the work not entirely made by me. With the funding collected during Alpha 1 I’ve been able to get a lot of help from some of my very talented friends.
Together we managed to get the game UI on a new level and break the silence with a unique soundtrack.

Although it was almost a whole year in development since last update and had some major improvements, keep in mind that it is still an alpha, so don’t expect it to be as stable as a finished game. This genre leaves no chance for quick development. Everything needs a lot of thought, testing, thought again.. So Alpha 2 is another iteration of testing. In which all of you are welcome to take part!

Let’s see what’s new.

Added/changed:

Added pigs husbandry for production of pork and an iconic Ukrainian product – salo

Substantially overhauled and improved the game UI

Improved the look of water edge in winter

Optimized performance (sounds way simpler than it is)

Added a new farm crop – buckwheat

View pitch is now saved to restore after zooming out

Added a lot of sounds and music

Can now exit world map or control panels with Esc key

Added an option to disable edge scrolling

Added hotkeys to open worldmap, economy & population panels

Added an ability to modify all key bindings

Can now set custom basic wage for laborers as well

Reworked the way building footprints work. Now supporting concave shapes and reserved entry areas which are allowed to intersect

Build queue:

Added buttons to pause/continue each construction + Shift to pause/continue all

Added tree removal counter

Added indicators for cause of construction stalling

Added sit down and stand up animations for fishermen on boats

Can now relocate boats to another fishing dock

Added more tool models for citizens to carry

Added several in-game options:

Showing connections between farms and fields, houses and residents, buildings and workers

Showing problems, like deactivated fields, families out of money, farms without manager etc.

Always show occupied space when hovering a building

Can now pan view with mouse

Eyedropper function to copy existing buildings

Added nice marks for trees to be chopped

Added skybox with some clouds which reflect in water. Also changes depending on season

Improved texture effects related to snow, especially on buildings

Added hotkeys to tilt camera

Improved water shader for better freezing and melting visuals

Smooth transitions between game speeds

Added new cursors

Better progress bar updating on game load

Building areas under roofs don’t get as much snow as open areas

Can now relocate ploughs between farms, also two more ploughs per farm allowed

Showing more detailed help messages when ordered vehicles can’t be constructed

Reminding that if you own Alpha 1, you can just download the updated version from Humble with the same link they sent you when you purchased the game. Unpack Alpha 2 archive separately from any previous versions.

Mine didn’t show right away, either. Log out and back in and check under purchases and see if it says anything about unclaimed purchases.

Jose Garza

Looking forward to trying this out. The game is looking very good 🙂

Kreigan

Tried on 2 computers but the zip cannot be opened (Windows 10 and 7 : Invalid zip)
I had to install 7Zip to be able to open the file but 7zip still reports 2errors and there is no EXE file
I am missing something or is the archive corrupted ?

It would be great if new settlers sometimes (with some chance) brought along chickens / cows / pigs.

NONNIE

3RD attempt to download and activate … keep getting error messages … not found drivers … DevlL.dll / lLU.dll / Libpng.dll / dmod.dll …. I have a new gaming computer that is up to date…. I tried 7-ZIP will try another type of ZIP file.

NONNIE

finally worked out okay … but 7 zip did not work to open the file… I used WIN ZIP.

Ony

it would be also great to understand from what exactly expenses formed of

Ony

like have statistics for salaries by work type (how many people work for each time, total for each type of job)

PatentPending

im having a problem with my mouse cursor being stuck behind the window, and i can’t get it in windowed form. any help?

Ony

wish: sorting items in economy tab alphabetically would make it much easier to find what you want

NONNIE

Still having problem/ bug when I open the game the land either spins around on an axis or drifts to the border of the map…… I have found a work around …. ( Activate TASK MASTER then you can go back to the game without further difficulties ) but this problem really should be fixed.

Rob Roy Rietveld

I am getting huge texture bugs. Anyone has the same by any chance?

Sean Brady

Would love to give Ostriv a look… but the ‘buy’ page has no link… everything but a link to purchase… any help?

Jagd Seelen

This patch was well worth waiting for.

Dave W

The download does nothing for me. Is it because when I bought Ostriv alpha 1 it was on a different computer. Does this update have to be put into the old file? I’ve been f*cking around with this update for awhile now. There isn’t a exe file in the update

A. Michael Anderson

Is there a Dev forum for this game… Graphic setting changes do not work for me. Thanks in advance

Andrew

Geez this game is amazing ! The fact that its still in alpha is amazing for the level of immersion and enjoyment i get from it. Thank you so much for the great beginnings of a wonderful new game.

Scott MacFarland

Really cool game man, keep it up!

Yasser Alhammad

fields grow nothing after 3 years i tried everything ,bad game play altitude

Ifrane Brunet

Oustanding work Yevheniy!
I bought your game a few day ago and was immediately hooked.
I would happily purchase it again in steam to support your work.

My town is now 300, and villagers are happy and full of good.

Resom_90

Can someone help me. I just purchased the alpha 2 here via the link. but I didn’t get a link or anything. just a confirmation e-mail, that I paid. thx for any help.

Chuck Raymond

Unfortunately, I’m unable to play this update. I can select new game and get the icon to build town center, but the menu never goes away and the map behind stays black. Is there a forum for working through issues? I played alpha 1 and am excited to check out the update. Looked great then, can’t wait to see alpha 2. thx